WRECK OF THE DRUMMOND CASTLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2215, 13 August 1896, Page 55

WRECK OF THE DRUMMOND CASTLE.

A'TERRIBL'E -TRAGEDY. | (FBOai OOR OWKi.COHBESPONDENT.) ! t .Lootjon, June 19. •

Althcu^frNew-Zealand readers have doubtlessrea d the .brief ' telegraphic . account of - the - fearful disaster which has saddened all England, there are many details of melancholy. interest irhich<are.notJlikely to have ' been cabled. l .On , » few of these lam about to touch. * \ ' it-wa«-lftte. on-last Weduesday afternoon that ! a rumour fcund enrrency about a large stfam-j •hip ibaviHg 'bf ea ■ wreoked at .the 'entrance of ; the TSng'ish 'Channel. 1 80 many -vague -sen-* gational stories 'have 'been set .afloat of late, merely ;to s.ll .the .evening papers .that few,' people al first?p»id:any. attention to.this report. l But the later .edilions'of. the -evening journals; CDntaiaed .explicit information .that a great 1 maritime diitfiterlnd occurred, and' that it was attended with deplorable lots of life. . On HiefactJaecoming known" that the ill-fated! ship was the Drummond Castle,, of Messrs' jPonaltl'Currie and.Co.'s famous line, h meward^ bound from the Cape of Good Hope, the. aronred was tremendous, and tuch'" huge orowdi 'assembled .outside the campauy's effices-inthe-city for further' intelligence': thatvhe' relatives and f riends.of the .passenger* iad much (J'fflciilty in obtaining access.' A-wty/ ,was .ultimately kept'clear^'forthem. A-nj«Bt'pi>i'iifulsefiefi.of'Jiieart-rendingsceneß. follonrea, continuing up -to midnight ana re-^ Burning when , ihe, offices J wece rcoptme'd eirly next morning! McD, women, aad children had. to receive from time to time the dreaded news, that 'their nearest and' dearest relatives had been on:boar*d.the.doomed *hipand were among, those who' bad perished. It is too distressing* toidmellon the-particular?. v Pew soene3 so sad ■Jiave>e7er been witnessed in London. What' made itirifimtelr more pathetievwas the general' , ' »beence«f sounds of lamentation. were, '■> -few, if-any,' of those^wild shrieks of woe which irould.have beeniheard had the Mourners been of inyotheruiationality— even-Hibernian. One could'd-itecb-many asnaothered scb, heart-drawn ejgb, and muttered exclamation of grief, bub • there rwere bo wild outbnrsts, or .hardly any. .The agonised countenances, blanched cheeks, .troubling jlip3,< and swollen eyelids spoke far .more.elogaeoily than the.most poignant outcries' conl'd "hftve,done of thedeepairing woe which

was .racking every heart, all the, deeper .and .more enduring .'because so silently endured. All ..who witnessed >tb.nt 'hearts-breaking scene must earnestly pray. to". he spared a. second experiecce of such a spectacle, All fbat'i«"known or, probably," that ever will 'be'tavjwn ot -theactualmishftp isthabin thick «nd<drkzly, but -not foggy, breather the chip diverged fr.m her course,! evidently in thehope of picking ap the Ushant light as a* Channel' entrancs landmark. She was seen by a pasting

steamer, whose officer ou watch remarked tltat

he did not understand -what (■he to doing that •way, and that if she went on she would go ashore.- -She : tcuched on the oublying reef of the «Bierreß tVertes (Green 'Stone*), and as she -was going full speed ihe sharp .rook Tipped her tip .from stem to -stern,, -so thaWireolly she passed over thereef she fpluuged iforwaro" and, ;B»nksh*adfforemosf,disijppe'aring'tot«llywithiri thr ee> minutes, *nd oarryingiwith her 247 out of the '2so -pei sons on 'hoard, only threß 'being One family among tho?e lost numbered no f ewer'.tbaa 16,persopf ,-who"Jiad emigrated from' Cornwall to ; Natal 15 ;years sago, *and were coming back for .their first visit to the mother country. .They were drowned almost within night of their native county. Their name was Peaobey. ".The chief .officer, 'Mr VVayman, leaves a yoilngftilfe And' two children. -His wife .was awaiting 'tis arrival, bat instead received a telegram announcing his ttagic death. 'Mr W. Koberti was on his. way Home' to be married ta Hits Evans, a.younglady in-the Postal department, was .to 'have accomp&niedlhim back to the Cape. All WAs:prepared for the /wedding, and MissEvanswastsaitingin momentary expectation the .advent .of hvt'tfiance., A telegram, mrasluinded to her, which nha opened in joyful anticipation- of -reading the .welcome news that her -betrothed would be with 'her in a >'few hours. Instead she learned that v he had been witlihiia-.few. miles of her, but that she would never gpfilhiaragain in this=world. ( An6ther .»sae >jaung fellow, "'whose name I

fo^gefc,^.a3 also on bis way Hoinaio matrimony audWlflJ. tln.liis.case the'trajgeay was a double one. When. his .betrothed, a .charming girl, residing ' in a "London suburb, opened the tele* gram, which .flhe ..expected ..to .intimate '.the probable lime of .his. arrival, -and found, it .to I contain instead thfi-tfjeira of shis Jtrirgic tdeath, ehs fell .as if-shofc through the heart. She was fl»o.t' thrown ■:the'4eai*, poor f giirl ! Tor 'in' a few minutes She passed away. 15he : and "bee lover were rewited even earlier'fchan'theyhad looked'for-^buf'in -another world. ffha .fi>lkwiijg>(«ccopdi«gitoithe <<3*ne Times)' Wftsltheilist of iipasMngowvf r«tn-04petowo-atid' tae • coast ports of the s.s. Drummond Castle (Gaptaiu , W. W. Pierce), totaUy wrecked- off -the coast-of BrittanjvYrhen .«n v ea{)eri»liad. t~-msw Olive. 'MwireiF...W...*na tW/W. W&ipp, M«r and MrsHuddTand child), Mr ABpinatl, Mr and -Mrs Mums, . Mr .Donaldson, Lieutenant. Geise, Miss «»Mick, WE.'W. < Rieh,'Mr Y Drury,'Mr and "Mrs Kal*s-(aad .child), Mrs.Hitfhwiißd-,chiW}, -Mr, Becnett, Mr and Mrs Stovena, Messrs Almona, English, and A. Ryan, Mrs Lucas (and 2 children),

'Mr and Mrs Van Mundle, 'Mr rand Mra. Gateman' i(and child), Messrs Allen, Jacobez, Sago, FelliesinKer,,and Cohen, Mrs M'L?an (and 4 children), "Messrs Hastiugs, Tulfsen, 'trgland, Norris, Graham, and Kiogstand, Mr and Mrs Kingler, Mr and Mrs Brocbein (and child), .Mw Hugo (and 4 children), Mrs Mercer (and 4 children), Mrs F. , Mack, Miss M'Gee, Messrs N. Tayleur, Hughes, T. Knight,- and A.-D. Buxton, Mr, Mrs, and Mus J Rae, MiyMrs, and .Miss Stevens, Mrs H. Moivis, ! Mrs, Miss, and 'Master Morton, Mrs and Miss BarnetVMr W. Mr, Mtf, Master, and Misses (2) Peachy, Mr and Mrs T. Peachy (and 3 children and maid), Muses Mercer (2), Messrs J. Platt, E. Ricb, Morrissay, Browning, and Schornscheim, Mr&and Miss Willis, Mr and Mrs Powdrell, Mr, Mrs, and Misses (2) Gettim, Miss Peace (apd nurse), Mrs M'Clellahd, Mrs Taylor (in'd.2 children), Mr J. Goldman, Mrs BrownConstable (and.maid). The officers of the ill'fated steamer'Drummond :Oaßtlewere;— Oaptain'W. W. -Pierce; officers—' J. Wayson first, T. W. Hicks second, J. H. Brown third, and J/P. Ellis fourth ; surgeon. DrJ. O. Fallon; purser, W.Skead; carpenter, A.'.Cowief boatswain, G. Elbro.